February 7, 2012

I’ve been working on a new post, but it has required a lot of research and time. So I didn’t want to wait until it was finished to share my thoughts on something that has been on my mind and in my life for a while.

And it has to do with parenting.

While I am far from becoming a parent myself, I have given it a lot of thought. I know there are many things I will do, and a lot of things I will not do. One of those things I will not do, is judge my child.

Like I do with my close friends and family now, I will support my child in just about any decision they make.

If they want to be gay, fine.

If they want to express themselves, fine.

If they want to dress differently, fine.

And if my child comes to me and tells me that they don’t want to participate in drinking or drugs, great.

Children come to an age where they have more freedom, they are away from their parents more, and they can begin to explore things on their own and find out what kind of person they want to become. As a parent I would be ecstatic if my kid felt free to be their own person and make their own decisions. Whether that decision was to smoke pot, have a few drinks, or refrain from doing either, as long as they were responsible and came to the decision on their own, I would support them.

It kills me to see great kids get put down by their parents. I hate it when a child feels like they can’t be who they want to be, because their parents won’t approve.